Air Serbia handled 1.272.831 passengers during the January - May period, its strongest since launching operations under its new name in 2013. In May alone, the carrier welcomed 335.363 travellers on board its aircraft, up 83% on last year and an increase of 66% on its previous best result set during the pre-pandemic 2019. The figure also marks the first time the airline handled over 300.000 passengers in May. During the month, the carrier operated a total of 3.708 flights, up 69% on last year and 48% on 2019. The airline welcomed its millionth passenger of the year on May 8, the earliest it has done so since its relaunch. Air Serbia achieved this milestone on July 8 last year and on June 25 in 2019.
Commenting on its passenger performance, CEO Jiri Marek, said, “Our company achieved a new historic milestone in May. For eleven consecutive months, since July 2022, we have been breaking our own records in terms of the number of passengers carried and flights operated. During these months, we have even eclipsed 2019 figures. Furthermore, in May, we launched nine new routes, including Chicago, our second destination in North America and our third long-haul destination. This is of major significance for us, our passengers, and the entire Western Balkans region. We will strive to continue the trend of growth and improvement of our network in the upcoming period”.
According to Serbia’s President, Aleksandar Vučić, Air Serbia registered over nine million euros in profit during the first four months of the year, although the Serbian carrier only publishes its annual financial reports. He further stated this week that the carrier has a record 200 million euros on its accounts, noting the company is choosing to invest its funds wisely in case of another downturn in the industry. Air Serbia reported earlier that it was profitable during the first quarter, a rarity among European carriers, noting its accounts were in the black without any state subsidies. The airline expects to handle up to 3.5 million passengers this year. So far in 2023 it launched eighteen new routes with a further three to commence this month.
Good result
ReplyDeleteJust waiting for the numbers once BEG-PRN flights start.
DeleteIt means BEG probably had over 700,000 passengers in May
ReplyDeleteTaking the current passenger flow into consideration, BEG could easily reach over 7 million this year
DeleteSo, we may expect close to1000000 in June only, + 2 more in July and August...
DeleteBravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
ReplyDeleteNice line up on the photo
ReplyDeleteThey should easily reach 3.5 million this year.
ReplyDeleteI hope that in 2024 they will reach 4 million passengers
Delete+1
DeleteIn 2025 they could finally overtake JAT's record from 1987.
DeleteAnd how much was that?
Delete4.531.000
DeleteStill a way to go to catch up.
DeleteJust as a reminder, huge part of the JAT traffic at that time was domestic as it used to be 16 airport served in Jugoslavija. Cheers
Delete"According to Serbia’s President, Aleksandar Vučić, Air Serbia registered over nine million euros in profit"
ReplyDeleteIf this is true, that is an impressive result.
Of course it’s not, he is a pathological liar. Kudos to JU anyway!
DeleteThe airline's CEO said they were profitable himself.
DeleteTo be profitable and to have 9m profit is not the same. They were talking 8 years ago that they were profitable, just they are forgetting the state aid all the time.
DeleteThere is no state aid this year. Majority of airlines in the world are now profitable. Air Serbia has cut costs by a lot since pre pandemic, over 30%. Their yields and average fares have grown. They are charging a fortune on routes from Russia. Their flights on new destinations like those in Spain and Portugal, the Istanbul route are packed. Flights from New York and Chicago are sold out until late July. So I would say they are definitely doing something right.
DeleteHe is definitely not a "lier", you can simple caculate their profit based on the average based fare times 1.3 million passengers and that would bring profit just over 8 mil . You might not like President of Serbia but his gouvermant has dine a fantastic job when comes to AirSerbia and he is continue putting hiluge efforts on JU and Serbian airports like no other country in the region More developed to come in the next 12 months .
DeleteJadna je država u kojoj se predsednik republike bavi finansijskim rezultatima državnih kompanija. To nije u njegovoj ustavnoj nadležnosti kao ni 99% stvari kojima se on bavi.
DeleteBaš me zanima da li predsednik Makron zna koliki je profit zaradio Air France u prvih 5 meseci ove godine. :) Ili holandski kralj Viljem, on sigurno zna finansijske rezultate KLM-a....
Raspitaj se malo koliko se politicari uplicu u avijaciju manjih zemalja. Za pocetak u EX YU, svi su umesani, samo neki vise vole kamere a neki vise vole da vrsljaju u mraku.
DeleteGreat results. Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteHuge delays too!
DeleteThey handled more passengers than the other two ex-yu national airlines combined.
ReplyDeleteSo who cares?
DeleteThose airlines should care.
DeleteThose two companies are not something to compare. Air Serbia generally always has more passengers than those two companies combined. What is more impressive is that one Air Serbia has more passengers than all carriers in Zagreb.
DeleteBy comparison Aegean had over five million pax during the same period.
DeleteAegean is not in EXYU 🫠
DeleteBaka only cares if its neighbor has more chickens in her henhouse.
Delete^ as do you.
DeleteLOL, sure!
DeleteAir Serbia: 335.363
ReplyDeleteZAG: 329.473
PRN: 290.753
Bravo Air Serbia 🇷🇸
How can you compare an airline to airports? It's absurd.
DeleteWhy not? It just goes to show how impressive the result is. One company in Belgrade has more passengers than all carriers in Zagreb!
DeleteI don't see the relevance of this comparison. BEG is a hub airport, ZAG barely so, PRN not at all. Also very different passenger structures.
DeleteIt’s a poor comparison, I agree. If you compare Wizz just from Budapest with all ex-ju airports, you will see how poor this comparison can be.
Deleteand two to three times bigger city and more or less the only airport in the country. not tha same in croatia. also belgrade is in the middle of nowhere so u need to fly. its funny how some ppl are obsessed with being the biggest.
DeleteWhy should I compare Budapest or Sofia or Tirana when this is EXYU portal? As far as I know, neither BUD nor SOF, TIA or SKG are in EXYU.
DeleteBecause Air Serbia, Serbia and Belgrade is always news in croatian medias, not in Budapest.
Delete@Vlad
DeleteSome analysts say that Zagreb is a hub, so it should be compared. ZAG also has a national carrier and a very strong LCC base. There is also a strong presence of the Lufthansa group in Zagreb, much larger than in Belgrade. Almost 10 times a day, it is mentioned that Belgrade does not have important carriers such as British, Air France, Finnair, Iberia, Air Transat... the drama surrounding the departure of Vueling was created as if Armageddon had hit Belgrade. So now it should be mentioned more often what only one company in Belgrade is doing compared to all those prestigious companies in Zagreb.
Interesting comment, didn't know about it. This is depressing for ZAG which has so many tourists every year. I guess many still fly in other cities and then take the bus. Also do please be mindful of the fact ZAG has a pathetic LJU so Slovenes use them as well.
Delete„and two to three times bigger city and more or less the only airport in the country. not tha same in croatia. also belgrade is in the middle of nowhere so u need to fly.“
DeleteYes! We know one analyst who compares the size of the city in the absence of other arguments. That's so lame. It's not even worth wasting words on that nonsense. And this is just nonsense that people are forced to fly only with BEG because it is "middle of nowhere". That is such a pathetic comment. From the north they fly via BUD, from the south via SOF and SKP, but also PRN and INI. We have Tuzla and Temisvar almost at the very border of the country, and Osijek also gets flights. On the other hand, ZAG profited the most from the collapse of LJU. So you have passengers from both Zagreb and Ljubljana. If Adria had not collapsed, Zagreb would never have had these numbers.
Can we stop this falsehood that Belgrade is the only airport in Serbia? Nis has respectable passenger numbers which are higher than several airports in Croatia. If you don't want to count Nis Airport then please stop counting at least 4 Croatian airports in your total passenger numbers.
DeleteSerbia has several active airports
DeleteTSR, TZL, BUD, SOF...are all competing airports with those.
Nicely done JU.
ReplyDeleteAny idea what the load factor was in May?
ReplyDeleteGreat. I have two flights with them in the next month so will contribute to their overall passenger numbers :)
ReplyDeleteWhere are you flying if it's not a secret
DeleteTo Frankfurt and Istanbul (they are separate flights, not transferring)
DeleteNice, thank you.
DeleteHope this upward trajectory continues
ReplyDeleteWith over 20 new routes it certainly will.
DeleteAnd more to come this winter.
DeleteShouldn't they be announcing the new routes for winter now?
DeleteNot really. They announced new routes last winter 2 to 3 weeks before they launched.
DeleteAnon 09:43 that is very poor planning by JU.
DeleteIt is not poor planning. That's the booking window. If it were poor planning their new routes launched last winter like Tianjin, Malaga and Malta would not have been sold out within a week. If it were poor planning they would not be profitable.
DeleteI always thought that it was better to announce launch of a new route 2-3 months prior, rather than 2-3 weeks.
DeleteYes, that's common sense.
DeleteFeels like they are doing it just to mess with purgerites :)
DeletePassenger growth and profit. Good result.
ReplyDeleteAnd the passenger experience is becoming worse and worse by the day.
ReplyDeleteTrue
DeleteAnd today they are launching Corfu. Good luck :)
ReplyDeleteAny idea what the load is like?
DeleteOn a Friday afternoon at the start of the holiday season, I'm certain it is good.
DeleteThe numbers woud be even better if they had enough aircraft and were able to launch things they planned like extra Paris flights, resume Trieste etc
ReplyDeleteExactly
DeleteTrieste wasn't relaunched as it was underperforming, not because of a lack of aircraft.
DeleteNot really. They scheduled the flight and put tickets on sale in March and then removed it after two weeks because they don't have enough ATR planes.
Delete...or maybe because sales weren't great? Trieste was mentioned to be on the chopping block last season due to the route underperforming.
DeleteThat was mentioned by an anonymous poster who of course, if it is negative, everyone trusts. The decision was made to sacrifice Triste because of ATR fleet shortage. Many new routes on ATRs had to be rescheduled for later date because of a lack of ATRs
Delete@Ano 11:07. You can write all the time that Trieste was cancelled due to fleet, but we both now that this destination was cancelled because it had poor booking numbers, not only in the first attempt JU tried to operate it, but the latest attempt as well.
DeleteBut I understand why you would need to write something like you wrote above...
I don't have to write anything. I know why it is was cancelled and I'm just attempting to correct your misinformation. CEO himself said the route is coming back and that it did well last year. They put it back on sale and suspended sale just two weeks later when it came apparent that the planes that were supposed to come would not come on time. You on the other hand can make up whatever suits you.
DeleteWhy was Trieste cancelled and not some other route
DeleteProbably because yields were lighter. I am not denying that. What I am saying is that this route was not discontinued due to poor performance but because of existing operational reasons.
Deletewow someone is determined to prove that JU has/had an underperforming route without any proof.
DeleteTrieste was cut due to poor loads. That whole area has enough supply for the amount of demand.
DeleteIts not about proving a route didn't work, even the best airlines don't have 100% sucess rates with new destinations. Not a big deal.
DeleteIt was cancelled by poor demand, whatever Ano was trying to say to prove otherwise. Trieste was pushed to be served by one man from the beginning, everyone in JU knows it. It went poorly. Then they tried again.Again started poorly, especially as they already were serving LJU and VCE nearby. That is the real reason why the route was cancelled.
DeleteNo one here is trying to make JU bad, but let's be unbiased here.
I can second that Trieste had always a nice LF for ATR (always 40+), it was profitable and was pulled because of not enough metal to run it.
DeleteAnd I can second and third that Trieste had always poor LF for ATR and was not profitable.
DeleteAll things considered pretty good.
ReplyDeleteGood result. Now looking forward to seeing how Croatia Airlines and Air Montenegro performed in May
ReplyDeleteThey would have published it by now if it was good.
DeleteDead men walking
DeleteJasmin is doing the best job ever, worldwide!!! How else you think Croatia Airlines could lease brand new fleet, ultra modern, shiny, most expensive in its category aircraft, which will btw remain grounded as in Air Baltic, Swiss, Air France... for engine problems? 😃😃😃
DeleteNice numbers
ReplyDeleteWow, amazing result for JU.
ReplyDeleteGreat results for JU. I hope they can get to 4 million or more next year. Also if its true im happy to read that they will try to save the money they made in profit to be ready if something goes wrong.
ReplyDeletebut would be even happier if they improved customer service at the same time so that peoples don't have bad experiences flying with JU.
As I was reading this I knew there was a but somewhere lurking behind the corner... and there it was! But, bad experiences!
Delete@2013XFE70
DeleteYes becuase customer service matters, especially for flag carriers as they represent their country and especially for the prices they charge. especially in todays world if Air Serbia and Belgrade want to become the regional hub of the Yug/Balkan nations which it has potential to become.
So you are saying Air Serbia and Belgrade airport are not yet regional hub? They just have the potential to become one? LOL!
DeleteBelgrade and air Serbia are not regional hubs, not yet.
DeleteBelgrade has the same passenger numbers as Sofia. what they're doing is putting them on the path to it.
build up long haul routes and increase frequency and connection from Belgrade to the entire region not just the capital cities but also the secondary cities. Chicago is great step towards that.
but still early stage, it needs time to mature and cement Belgrade as regional hub, like vienna is.
JU brought back complimentary service on 2+ hour flights. That's a step in the right direction.
DeleteI was very happy when they re-introduced the complimentary service, that exactly how a full service flag carrier should be behaving.
Deleteand most importantly it is good quality food, not like the supermarket small sanwhich they had for a period of time.
improves passenger experience, and the reputation of the airline. it was a really good step.
Belgrade is not a regional hub? Says who? Certainly not real aviation experts. Only some neighbourhood self proclaimed analysts.
Delete@anon 21:28
Deleteno real aviation experts have labelled Belgrade as the regional hub. Vinci and Air Serbia are reported as saying they want to turn Nikola Tesla airport into a regional hub which will be achieved by increasing passenger numbers from 5 million to 15 million.
Air Serbia is reported in CAPA to say "Air Serbia said it was recommitting to its principle of building Belgrade into a regional hub airport". this was published in January 2023
as you can see this is Air Serbia's aim, that they have not achieved yet but working towards it.
Belgrade is competing with Vienna and budapest to be called a regional hub. Budapest have no flag carrier so they wont be developing their long haul routes. LOT operates a long haul route to Korea for them. so overtaking them will be first part of it.
CAPA is hardly balanced when it comes to Serbia. Turning an airport into a regional hub which will be achieved by increasing passenger numbers from 5 million to 15 million??? That's nuts. You can have an airport with 20-30 million passengers yet not a hub. Antalia and Palma are examples of busy airports but NOT hubs. Belgrade is a regional transfer hub and it has been for a while. Grow up.
DeleteI would say in EX-yu plus romania and bulgaria albania AirSerbia is the only HUB. If you look at a more wider picture ofcourse it has very strong competition in budapest and athens.
Deleteif you read the article it was a quote from vinci and from air serbia, not an opinion from CAPA.
Deleteboth companies have the ambition to turn Belgrade into a regional hub, neither of them have called it a regional hub yet.
its amazing you can make a claim of this success for Nikola Tesla Airport that the two companies have not made
If you are capable of comprehension that quote is five years old. Belgrade is a hub, like it or obviously not.
DeleteJel zna neko zašto su otkazani noćni letovi za SJJ do početka Jula?
ReplyDeleteNedovoljno ATR-ova
DeleteCharters will increase the number of passengers a lot.
ReplyDeleteIf only they could introduce more flights to Russia...
ReplyDeleteCome August they are going to pack them with 321s :)
DeleteImpressive, indeed.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, they need to work on punctuality. If they want - and they do - to be treated like a serious hub airline.
Only today in the morning:
Kazan - 50 mins delay
Skopje - 1h40 mins
Athens - 1h20 mins
Moscow - 2h05 mins
Barcelona - 40 mins
Zagreb - 1h
Venice - 1h10 mins
Vienna - 4h45 mins (for comparison: OS - 4 mins delay)
Banja Luka - 1h35 mins
+ a few more with +30 mins delay: Paris, Zurich, Prague.
By the end of the day, I am sure there will be more...
Flights such as Kazan, Skopje and Athens were late because the airport was closed for arriving and departing flights at the time due to a big storm. No aircraft was able to land either. Wizz Air's flight from Barcelona had to divert to Timisoara, while Air Serbia's flight from Brussels, Wizz Air's from Malmo and Austrian's from Vienna had to circle over Belgrade for around an hour before they were allowed to land.
DeleteAnother thing to consider is that delays could be caused by the passport control. I flew on Thursday and it was a nightmare. Many people were still in line when boarding for their flight started.
DeleteThe airport said when they were opening the new runway that they are trying to resolve the issue with long lines at passport control.
DeleteCan confirm about the storm. I was on JU305 last night. Full flight but captain kept us informed about the storm. We finally landed after about 50 minutes of going in circles.
DeleteAir Serbia is taking a page from Ryan and Wizz playbooks - even bad publicity is good for growing passenger numbers and profit!
ReplyDeleteOr maybe people overall are not that dissatisfied with them? JU is just an ok carrier.
DeleteThe service quality is expected, not given category. And what we do expect of airlines changed over last years. People expect lower fares, so the quality is percieved mainly through that criteria. Punctuality is (unfortunately) going down on the list of what people expect (what people see as quality).
DeleteIt's nice to have pampered customer service but passenger growth and cash flow are the kings.
DeleteI think that Air Serbia should be developed similar to LOT and Turkish. So, they should add connectivity as many as possible.
ReplyDeleteLong haul:
Toronto
Miami
Havana
Shanghai
Hong Kong
New Delhi
I also think that they have to cover central Asia, Middle East and north Africa, and some in Europe, like:
Novosibirsk
Yerevan
Baku
Helsinki
Manchester
Leipzig
Bordeaux
Bilbao
Tunis/Monastir
Tripoli
Beirut
Amman
Baghdad
Kuwait
Geneve
Trieste again,
Skiathos could be regular seasonal route. Split and Ohrid all year round.
Dry lease is most important now, so if they are profitable, JU can ask for a loan to increase routes.
Ok, guys... what is the connection between the airport and the city center. Any trains? Is a railway station under construction within the airport? This is a very important topic too.
ReplyDelete